It's Time to Change Who Is in the Room When Decisions Are Made About the Economy

http://www.alternet.org/activism/its-time-change-who-room-when-decisions-are-made-about-economy


Patricia Fuller at the Ricing Voices for A New Economy conference in Washington, D.C.
Photo Credit: Anna Lekas Miller


"What does inequality look like where you're from?"

This is the question that kicks off the first event of the National People's Action Rising Voices for a New Economy Conference, a gathering of more than 500 activists and organizers hailing from every corner of the country: Low-wage workers campaigning for a higher minimum wage in Michigan; Farmers organizing against factory farming in Iowa; Community activists pushing for corporate accountability in Maine; Co-op workers building sustainable, affordable housing in Buffalo; Racial justice advocates in Minnesota; Local groups fighting gentrification in Los Angeles and for affordable housing in New York City.

All gathered in Washington, D.C. to meet, exchange strategies and build power.

"In Minnesota, a black person is three times more likely to be unemployed than a white person!" one voice emerges from the crowd.

"In Detroit it's so bad that you can throw a stone from an abandoned house and hit a Starbucks!" another participant called out.

The mood at the convention is festive, with red white and blue balloons floating above the chairs and rousing anthems blasting from the speakers between panelists with people getting up to dance.

This year in particular, something special is happening. The National Domestic Workers Alliance Conference, an annual conference bringing together domestic workers from across the United States happening next door, is joining the National People's Action conference. The result is a room filled with 2,000 nannies, home-care workers, and organizers fighting for causes ranging from raising the minimum wage to immigration justice to "banning the box"--a campaign that calls upon corporations to eliminate the question asking if applicants have criminal records that is quickly gaining momentum in several states.


***i strongly agree -- new people need to be asked about what should be done on a whole host of issues --